Implant Alternatives

Alternatives to Dental Implants

What are the alternatives to Dental Implants?
Although implants are very effective in their working, they tend to be a bit expensive. This has provoked dentists to look for other alternatives. Here are some of the best alternative techniques used in recent times.

1. Same day implants
This procedure allows placement of a temporary tooth (crown) the same day you meet your doctor. This procedure is ideal for patients with enough natural bone.

2. Dentures
These are removable replacements for missing teeth and surrounding tissues. They are available in 2 types; partial and complete. Complete dentures are used when all teeth are missing while partial dentures are used on some of the remaining natural teeth. Over the past few years, many prosthodontists are offering upper dentures with metal plates. These dentures provide a lot of strength and more room for the tongue thus making you feel very comfortable.

3. Fixed Bridge
This is ideal for people with teeth on both sides of the missing teeth. The teeth need to be strong enough to support the bridge. For the procedure to be successful, teeth on both sides must be crowned. In this case, enamel has to be cut off the teeth and replaced with porcelain or metal teeth. If the patient doesn’t have enough remaining teeth to support a fixed bridge, partial dentures can always be used.

4. All-on-4
This process aids in placing a full arch of replacement teeth. Here, 4 dental implants are used to stabilize the replacement on the bone and as a result you don’t need to undergo bone grafting.

5. Resin-bounded bridge
This process is used to restore front teeth that don’t endure the biting and chewing demands of back teeth. In most cases, the bridge has wings on each side that attach to the teeth. This bridge works and functions better than a removable denture but it’s not as strong as fixed bridgework. Although, resin-bonded bridge is very effective in its working, it doesn’t function or last as long as the dental implant.